At times, not the (allegedly) market-oriented Coalition.
Here's an extract of the news from AAP:
"Alcopop sales dived by more than 25 per cent following a massive tax hike, and despite warnings it seems young drinkers didn't just move onto cheaper types of booze.
New research has backed the federal government's strategy to use a 70 per cent tax hike on ready-to-drink products in an effort to curb binge drinking.
It shows only about half the drop in alcopop consumption translated into increased sales of beer and spirits.
Associate Professor Tanya Chikritzhs, of the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, compared industry-provided data for the three months to June 2007 with the same period in 2008."
Tanya N Chikritzhs, Paul M Dietze, Steven J Allsop, Michael M Daube, Wayne D Hall and Kypros Kypri, The “alcopops” tax: heading in the right direction , Medical Journal of Australia, Online Publication 2 Mar 2009